Page Survives Injury Abyss, Eyes WEC 52 Return

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- While recovering from a shoulder injury that
forced him to spend nearly 11 months away from the cage, Damacio
Page did whatever he could to fill the crater-sized void in his
life that fighting’s absence had created.

The 28-year-old bantamweight referred to the process as
“surviving.” He worked on fixing up the houses and properties he
owns in Albuquerque. He inked up clients at a local tattoo shop.
Most of all, he watched. He watched as the 135-pound mountain in
the WEC that he had worked so hard to ascend seemingly got steeper
by the month. It was sometimes painful, but Page made the downtime
productive.

“It’s real frustrating just watching people passing me for title
shot after title shot -- Joseph
Benavidez, Dominick
Cruz and now Scott
Jorgensen. They deserved a shot, [but] I was sidelined just
watching it unfold,” he says. “In a way, it’s alright. It’s good
because I was able to study everybody that’s fighting. No one knows
how I fight anymore. They don’t know that I’ve switched up my style
or what I’ve done. Even though it sucks because I couldn’t do
anything, it’s good because I was able to study all the other
fighters.”

The Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts product last fought at WEC
43 in October 2009, besting Will
Campuzano with a rear-naked choke a little more than a minute
into the first round. Originally scheduled to face Eddie
Wineland at WEC
52 on Thursday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Page
instead will meet Demetrious
Johnson after Wineland withdrew from the bout with a shoulder
injury.

Page was disappointed in losing the opportunity to square off
against the heavy-handed Wineland, but after such a long layoff, he
does not take his new opponent lightly.

“Johnson is a very exciting fighter, too,” Page says. “He’s very
quick. He has good boxing. Either way, it’s going to be a great
fight. The only thing that’s different is he doesn’t have a name.
He’s a guy that’s equally as tough.”

Johnson, a member of the
AMC Pankration camp, earned a unanimous decision over Nick Pace at
WEC
51. He lost his promotional debut to American Top Team’s
Brad
Pickett at WEC
48. Page had teammate John Dodson
emulate Johnson in camp. Dodson’s compact build and style closely
resembles that of the fighter they call “Mighty Mouse.”

“Johnson is more my type of fighter,” Dodson says. “[I have to] be
fast on my feet and keep switching my stance. [He] likes to bounce
around a lot. [I have to] make sure [Page] sees a fast fighter
instead of a power fighter like Wineland was.”

The comparison between Dodson and Johnson does not end with in-cage
tendencies. Dodson is ranked 10th on Sherdog’s list of top
flyweights, but Page believes Johnson is more comfortable at 125
pounds and will be at a size disadvantage at bantamweight.

“He’s tough. It doesn’t matter; I'm going to treat him like any
other fighter,” Page says. “Who knows, he might be the next best
thing at 125.”

The recurring nature of his shoulder injury has given “The Angel of
Death” a glimpse into his fighting mortality. Most of the time,
Page can go 100 percent in training without feeling any adverse
effects on his shoulder, on which he underwent two separate
surgeries for the torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff he
suffered against Campuzano. Sometimes, it flares up and provides a
sobering reminder.

“You’re never 100 percent,” Page says. “I’ve talked to people who
had shoulder injuries who got the same surgery. They say you’re not
the same for a year, a year-and-a-half. It’s up and down sometimes.
Sometimes it gets all inflamed and it hurts. You train hard, then
you’re not 100 percent. If you’re not feeling aches and pains
everywhere, then you’re not training hard enough.”

Travis
Marx, a 135-pounder who came to New Mexico from Jeremy Horn’s
Elite Performance team some five months ago, says Page has
performed exactly like the WEC star he expected upon his
arrival.

“Damacio’s an animal,” Marx says. “I love training with guys like
him because they train very intensely and pull no punches. When you
go with Damacio, you’ve got to be ready to go. That’s why he’s
where he’s at -- because he trains hard and pushes himself.”

Dodson has worked out alongside Page for much longer, and he can
see the improvements that have come with the time away.

“He’s coming in strong,” he says. “Since that time off, he’s had
time to work more on his jabs, more on his striking, so he can see
little areas he needs to work on. It’s actually helped him out
tremendously because he’s thinking more. He’s actually getting more
hungry for this fight.”

A victory over current number one contender Jorgensen, an 18-second
knockout over Marcos
Galvao and a quick submission over Campuzano have not satisfied
Page.

“There’s not a defining moment yet,” he says. “I haven’t got the
title.”

Rather than focus on past achievements, he looks forward to
releasing his pent-up aggression against Johnson.

“I’m just gonna go out there and fight with a passion,” he says. “I
just think it’s built up a lot more this time around. It was a long
year. I’m able to focus all that energy and finally get it out.”